Marvel’s mighty Avengers to become an anime

Walt Disney Japan has just announced that they’ll be making good use of their rights to Marvel Comics’ creations by producing their own TV anime of “the earth’s mightiest heroes,” the Avengers. The series is scheduled for nationwide release on Nihon Terebi starting in spring of 2014 under the title, “Disk Wars: Avengers”.

This is exciting news for fans of the franchise, but comic book buffs might want to reign in their expectations. This animated series has a distinctly Japanese flair, like nothing we ever felt from the original comics. See what changes are in store for our superheroes in this all-new Asian take on an American classic.

Disk Wars: Avengers takes place in a world where villains are apprehended using portable capture devices called “disks.” Unfortunately, Loki and his evil plans for something (world conquest, perhaps?) have brought forth an overwhelming number of bad guys! The heroes are overwhelmed and become locked within their own disks, then scattered across the globe.

Amidst all the chaos, five children – four boys and one girl – acquire something called the “Bio Code,” a program which allows them to become the hero imprisoned within a disk. Spider-Man, who narrowly escaped capture himself, gives the kids five disks, allowing each of them to transform into one of the earth’s mightiest heroes: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, and the Wasp. Together, they make up the Avengers, using the powers and special moves that they’ve acquired to combat evil and hopefully put an end to Loki’s master plan.

The series will presumably be marketed toward six to 12-year-old boys residing within Japan. Obvious changes are being made to make the story and characters more palatable to Japanese audiences, similar to what they did with the 2008 TV series Stitch!, where everyone’s favorite Disney alien was relocated to Okinawa and Lilo was replaced by Yuna, a Japanese native.

This is apparently the first time that Walt Disney Japan has attempted to localize Western source material for a mostly male demographic, so they’ve called for a bit of help out with this experimental anime. Animation producers will be collaborating with Toei Animation Co. for supervision, based on their large number of successful boyish anime. They will also be calling on Bandai for their experience in merchandising.

At this point it’s hard to say how well Marvel’s source material will appeal to Japanese tastes, or how much of the Western spirit will remain once the series is complete. But, if it means that I’ll be able to find more Avengers merchandise in local stores, I can forgive it a few major changes….